In Restaurant Trends, What Comes After Farm-to-Table?

Sourcing local produce is one thing. Now, chefs are redefining ‘farm-to-table’ by overseeing the growing themselves. On the plate, the results are radically fresh. Plus: a guide to next-level restaurants near you

By

Elizabeth G. Dunn

April 5, 2018 1:49 pm ET

IT BEGAN for Matthew Accarrino, the chef at SPQR in San Francisco, when he grew weary of sifting through farmers’ markets, vying with other chefs for the same carrots and tomatoes. Truly unusual produce, he realized, wasn’t sold this way—it wouldn’t make financial sense for a farmer. So he started ordering and buying directly from farms, but he struggled to come up with crops to request. Then, in 2011, he got to know a regular diner at SPQR named Peter Jacobsen, who owned a small farm in Yountville, Calif.